Review: Fujitsu Siemens Amilo Si 1520 notebook computer

The Amilo series is Fujitsu Siemens' line of 'value' home computers. While it might not be a powerful beast, the Amilo Si 1520 can certainly cope with most programs that are thrown at it, particularly given its slim looks and light weight.

The core of the computer is an Intel Core Duo T2300 processor which runs at 1.66GHz, with an on-the-small-side 512Mb of memory.

That's roughly in the middle of the Core Duo range, and while it means that the computer won't be able to deal with recent games at high levels of details, it's quite happy with office applications and web browsing.

The notebook looks very good indeed. While it's not quite as shapely as a Sony Vaio, it is sleekly designed and the rounded edges of the case work well. Because of the way the case is hinged, the lid and screen can tilt right back until they are flat against a desk, which can come in handy.

The back of the case houses one USB port as well as the S-video output and the power connection. On one side is the optical drive, another USB port and the network connection.

On the opposite side sit two more USB ports, taking the total to four, a DVI connection – which is impressive on a notebook of this size, as most come with the older VGA connector – as well as a mini-Firewire socket, modem, headphone and microphone sockets.

As with most notebooks these days, there is a memory card reader built in, in this case along the front of the case, which reads SD, MMC and Memory Stick cards.

The front panel also houses the status lights, which show whether the power is on, and whether the wireless network (it can attach to 802.11a, b and g networks as well as Bluetooth), battery charger and hard disk are in use.

The 80Gb hard disk is a reasonable size for a notebook, and there is a multi-format DVD burner (all common PC formats).

The 12in screen is sharp, clear and bright, and is of the high-contrast type – there is no anti-glare coating, which makes the colours deeper, but means that more reflections appear.

There is a row of buttons above the keyboard which can be used to control applications, as well as to activate 'silent mode'. In this, the computer reduces its own processor power so it needs less cooling, and the fans can be switched off.

This will make games more jerky, for example, but office applications won't be affected.

The computer performed reasonably in our testing – its overall results came out roughly where we'd expect for the processor, but its graphics performance was very poor – because it uses a graphics processor built in to the motherboard rather than an add-in card, it really can't cope with games graphics.

That doesn't affect DVD playback, though, or general applications. Its decent battery life – over two and a half hours in general use – means that for these uses it's an excellent, truly portable notebook.

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